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970426
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PML leaders being excluded from Ehtesab process
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Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD, April 25: Government agencies involved in the accountability
exercise are said to be avoiding the processing of cases of alleged
corruption or misuse of authority against members of the ruling PML, it is
learnt.
Investigations into the working of the Ehtesab commission and the interior
ministry which are directly concerned with the accountability process under
a statute, show that neither of them has been processing the references
against PML leaders. According to sources, the two agencies have even been
told to lay off certain cases.
The sources claimed that some of the top PML leaders against whom
references had been pending were Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Sindh Chief
Minister Liaquat Jatoi, Punjab Assembly speaker Pervez Elahi, former chief
minister of the NWFP Pir Syed Sabir Shah, former Balochistan chief minister
Zulfiqar Magsi, and former Punjab minister Raja Ishfaq Sarwar.
Besides, a case against the NA deputy speaker, Jaffar Iqbal, was referred
by an advocate from Multan to the Ehtesab Commissioner. But the commission
has denied having received any formal reference in this regard.
A commission source, however, told this correspondent that the reference
had actually been sent to the commission and it had been redirected to the
provincial anti-corruption department for verification of the allegations.
The Ehtesab Commission has so far referred a total of 54 cases to special
benches of the high courts for trial. These include only two references
against the PML leaders Chaudhry Sher Ali (MNA) and Jam Mashooq Ali
(MNA). But both had been sent to the high courts much before the present
government came to power.
It is learnt that the agencies concerned have been told to keep a low
profile in some cases involving bureaucrats and other top officials. The
case of Raana Sheikh, former MD, PTV, for instance, has been pending with
the interior division but they have been asked not to send it to the
Ehtesab Commission, interior ministry sources told dawn.
Later, the Accountability Cell of the PMs Secretariat suspended all these
officers except the two Ahmad Riaz Shiekh and Chaudhry Sharif. The FIA
administration, the sources said, wanted to move against these two
officials but they had not only been saved but the authorities had also
been asked to process the case of promotion of one of them.
According to one source, these officers have set the condition that they
will only go to FIA if the incumbent director general is removed.
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970425
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US move to destabilize regional security
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Hasan Akhtar
ISLAMABAD, April 24: Pakistan has resented the US Foreign Relations
Committee Chairmans move to seek termination of peacekeeping role along
the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir by the United Nations Military
Observers Group (UNMOGIP), and protested against the move to Washington and
the UN.
Termination of the UNMOGIP mission, a Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman
warned, would seriously jeopardise peace and security in a volatile region
like South Asia and thereby seriously impair Security Councils role in the
maintenance of peace as defined by the UN Charter.
The spokesman made the statement at his weekly news briefing here on
Thursday recalling a recent reported move by Senator Jesse Helms, Chairman
of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to link US financial support
for the UN peace-keeping operations with interalia. Terminations of the
UNMOGIP, which has existed for about five decades to monitor ceasefire
violations in Jammu and Kashmir since Pakistan and India accepted ceasefire
in the disputed State, under the UN resolutions.
The spokesman contended that any change in the status of UNMOGIP could only
be brought about by a decision of the Security Council and asserted it
cannot form part of any deal or benchmarks for UN reform. The government of
Pakistan has taken up the matter with the United States as well as the UN
Secretary-General Kofi Anan, he added.
The spokesman regretted that India had stopped cooperating with the UNMOGIP
in the investigation of ceasefire violations for the past few years.
However, Pakistan continued to seek UNMOGIPs assistance in investigating
hundreds of such violations every year.
Responding to questions at the news briefing, the spokesman avoided
offering any comment on the joint declaration on Wednesday in Moscow by
visiting President Jiang Zemin and Russian President Boris Yeltsin, saying
he would for the moment refrain from commenting on it. He hoped that this
might be one of the subjects during talks next week in Beijing between
President Jiang and President Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari. Mr Leghari is
visiting Beijing on April 29-30.
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970422
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PAF wants extradition of officer from US
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, April 21: Pakistan Air Force has recommended to the ministry of
defence that Squadron Leader Farooq should be brought back to Pakistan for
further interrogation, sources at the defence ministry told Dawn.
Squadron Leader Farooq was arrested in the United States along with a
consignment of two kilograms of heroin he had allegedly taken in an air
force plane he had flown to the United States for bringing the arms and
other defence equipment released under the Brown Amendment.
A source said Pakistan Air Force had written to the ministry of defence to
ask the ministry of foreign affairs to take up the issue of the extradition
of Farooq to Pakistan with US authorities.
Meanwhile, a joint interrogation team of the Inter Services Agency (ISI),
Military Intelligence (MI) and Anti Narcotics Force is interrogating Sqd.
Ld. Qasim Bhatti, the source said.
The source hinted at more arrests in the case adding Pakistan Air Force was
taking every possible measure to check recurrence of any such incident in
future. If there is another black sheep, he must be arrested in Pakistan
instead of causing embarrassment to the country internationally, the
source added.
The plane which had been taken to the United States by Farooq returned with
the arms released by the US authorities under the Brown Amendment.
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970422
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Pakistan needs $1bn for wheat import
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M. Ziauddin
ISLAMABAD, April 21: Pakistan needs to mobilise additional one billion
dollars during the current calendar year to import about 4 million tons of
wheat to bridge the gap that is expected to emerge between supply and
demand in the next 12 months.
The new crop, the harvesting of which has already been started, is
estimated at around 15-16 million tons against a total demand for 20
million tons , including two million tons for export to Afghanistan through
legal channels.
Another about a million and a half tons of wheat is needed to satisfy the
smuggling demand which has suddenly jumped up recently due to a number of
reasons.
The wheat-producing areas of Afghanistan which are located in the countrys
north are now in the hands of anti-Kabul warlords. Next, the Ukrain wheat
which used to meet the demands of Russia and Belorussia and deficits in
Central Asian countries is now going towards the west. These two factors
have made the areas beyond Pakistan in the north highly attractive for
smugglers.
The current atta crisis in Pakistan is also rooted mainly in the sudden
increase in the quantity of smuggling. The already short crop of 15 million
tons was brought under severe pressure from the demand from countries
across the northern border where atta was being sold between Rs 22 a kilo
to Rs 32, against Rs 7-5 a kilo in Pakistan.
It is, however, not clear from where the government will mobilise the
required billion dollars to import wheat to bridge the current years
supply-demand gap.
And even if the required resources are mobilised for this year, the problem
is likely to become more serious next year as the wheat deficit will
increase further, considering the factors of population growth and fighting
in Afghanistan. One way of getting out of the tight corner is to increase
the acreage of wheat cultivation and use good- quality seed to improve per
acre yield from the present 22 maund per acre to 40 per acre already
achieved by India.
Experts said water for the additional wheat acreage could be made available
by saving wastages and seepages through which nearly half of the irrigation
water was lost.
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970423
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New naval base to be operational next month
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Shahid Ahmed
ORMARA, April 22: A spokesman for the navy told newsmen here on Tuesday
that the navy was planning to shift a big portion of its fleet to its
second home at Ormara, 240 kms west of Karachi.
He said with the commissioning of this second naval base next month, India
would lose some of the strategic edge it has had over Pakistan. It would
give the Pakistan navy, the spokesman added, more reaction time in the
event of a war.
The spokesman was briefing newsmen during a conducted tour of the Jinnah
Naval Base.
The spokesman said the new base was a dream come true as it would reduce
the countrys dependence on Karachi and also open up the 800-km-long
coastline to commercial exploitation.
He said the president would be the chief guest at the inauguration of the
base on May 7.
The spokesman said Karachis proximity to the Indian coast had proved to be
a liability in confrontations with India as it placed the countrys entire
maritime trade at the enemys mercy. He said a road link between Karachi
and Ormara was vital for the development of a coastal belt that offered
easy access to the Gulf.
The construction of a naval harbour has at least laid a springboard and it
is now up to both the public and private sectors to come out with plans for
the development of the area.
He pointed out that the navy had considered five sites Gwadar, Pasni,
Ormara, Jiwani and Sonmiani and had finally opted for Ormara because of
its big area and natural protection from huge waves.
Replying to a question, he said the PN planned to shift half the
maintenance and repair facilities from Karachi to the new base.
Ormara is a sleepy little town with a population of 10,000 on the Mekran
coast, north of a headland jutting out into the sea. The local populace,
subsisting mainly on fishing, had been leading a virtually primitive
existence as late as five years ago. The town has few pucca houses and
water supply, roads, and electricity are non-existent. The navy plans to
generate power on its own, but at the same time it would be willing to
share it with any private sector enterprise if and when it stepped in.
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970421
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Motorway project may be delayed
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, April 20: The 334 kilometre Islamabad-Lahore motorway project
will not be completed by Aug 31 the date given by the National Highway
Authority, Dawn reliably learnt.
The briefs circulated among newsmen during a recent visit of Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif to the motorway had given Sept 1 as the commissioning date of
the project. However, even the PM was not certain that the project would be
completed by the date given by the National Highway Authority.
The prime minister, when asked by a journalist about the possible
commissioning date of the project, did not reply.
The Daewoo has not yet handed over the land required to lay approach roads
on both ends of the motorway.
The approach roads are to be constructed at an additional cost of Rs8
billion. The original cost of the project was Rs24 billion, excluding the
cost of approach roads.
Besides approach roads a lot of work is still left to be done on the
project itself. Under the original agreement, the Daewoo has to construct
fencing on both sides of the road but later the government withdrew it and
decided to get it done by local contractors through the National Highway
Authority.
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970424
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Consortium supports Pakistans programme
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Shaheen Sehbai
WASHINGTON, April 23: The-Aid-to-Pakistan Consortium, which concluded its
sessions in Paris on Wednesday, expressed continued support for Pakistan
and indicated that financial commitments would be forthcoming in support of
strong implementation of the programme for economic revival, recently
announced by the Nawaz Sharif government.
A World Bank announcement said in Washington the Consortium, which decided
to rename itself as Pakistan Development Forum, endorsed the continuing
need for external resources to support Pakistans development efforts.
It noted the Pakistan government request for fresh commitments of $2.26
billion during 1997-98 from members of the Consortium, the World Bank said.
Pakistan, it may be recalled, did not request the Consortium this year for
specific aid pledges which may be done later in the financial year.
The World Bank hosted the two-day conference on Pakistans development on
April 22-23. At the meeting of government and official donors to Pakistan,
the government of Pakistans delegation described the comprehensive
programme of reform measures, which it first announced during the last week
of March.
The long-term economic agenda for Pakistan, including governance and
institutional strengthening, human resource development and the
environment, was also discussed, along with coordination of donors
assistance programmes.
Mr Sartaj Aziz told the conference that Pakistan was experiencing slow
economic growth particularly in the manufacturing sector, inflation was too
high, exports were performing poorly, and there were balance of payments
problems, when the new government came to power in February this year.
In response, the government initiated a comprehensive programme of economic
revival aimed at instilling confidence, accelerating growth and stabilizing
the economy, he said.
Ms Nishimizu described this as a bold and far-reaching structural reform
programme that triggers a fundamental paradigm shift in Pakistans economic
policy framework.
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970424
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Review of agreements on power projects
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Ihtashamul Haque
ISLAMABAD, April 23: The government has constituted a six- member committee
to review the agreements with the sponsors of all the private power
projects numbering about 90 including the Hub power with a view to reducing
their expected adverse impact on the balance of payments and on the
consumers.
Informed sources told Dawn that the government will have a fresh look at
decisions taken by Benazir administration so as to improve these agreements
to the countrys advantage.
Syed Nizam Shah has been appointed the Convener of the committee, while
former chairman WAPDA Mr. Shamsul Mulk, Mr. Javed Akhtar, Mr. Ali Nawaz
Memon, Mr.Shahid Sattar and Sahabzada Masood would be its members. Mr.
Masood who is the acting managing director of Private Power and
Infrastructure Board (PPIB) would work as the secretary of the committee.
According to the terms of reference of the committee, it will keep in view
the importance of various legal obligations arising out of the power
agreements entered into by Pakistan. It may engage the services of eminent
legal experts to the extent necessary. The committee will be expected to
submit its recommendations before the end of May, 1997.
Sources said that the committed has been set up in pursuance of the
decision taken by prime minister Nawaz Sharif at the briefing session held
in the ministry of Finance on April 15-16. It has been constituted on the
orders of the minister for water and power Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan who also
holds the duel charge of the ministry of petroleum.
The objective of the committee would be to suggest ways and means to cut
the cost of private power without compromising the agreements made with
foreign companies, Chaudhry Nisar told Dawn when asked for the reasons for
setting up the committee.
It is a very major policy decision of our government because we sincerely
believe that the power agreements should be fair and not lopsided, the
minister said.
He was of the view that it was in the interest of the foreign companies
that Nawaz Sharifs revival of economic reform package was implemented in
letter and spirit. Unless we have a vibrant and active economy, we can not
even hope to consume the power which is going to be produced in next two
years. Even at the present rate of consumption we are going to have excess
power to the tune of 1800 to 2000 MW by the year 2000, Chaudhry Nisar Ali
Khan said.
He said while there would be more power than needed, its tariff would sky
rocket sending the economy into a recessionary spin.

970421
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A case for devaluing the rupee
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Dr Farrukh Saleem
AROUND one-eighth of our total foreign trade is conducted directly with the
US while one-half of all our trade is denominated in the US currency. The
rate of inflation in the US over the 7-month period commencing October 1996
has averaged less than 0.5 per cent while the average monthly rate of
inflation in Pakistan has been at least 1.25 per cent.
The Washington Post of April 10, 1997 reported ...the dollar hit a new 4.5
year high against the Japanese yen and a three-year high versus the German
mark, propelled by the allure of rising US interest rates. In New York
trading the dollar settled at 126.77 yen, up from 126.52 yen Tuesday, and
at 1.7245 marks, up from 1.7143. In Tokyo late Thursday morning, the dollar
was trading at 126.92 yen.
The last official devaluation of the rupee took place more than 200 days
ago when the State Bank of Pakistan announced a hefty depreciation of 8.5
per cent on the 22nd of October, 1996.
Such an extended period of official rupee-dollar stability is an anomaly
rather than the norm. Since that day in October, the seven month
accumulated inflationary differential between the US and Pakistan comes to
5.25 per cent.
Whether the State Bank of Pakistan likes it or not the long-term
depreciation of the rupee would have to match the inflationary differential
(or the terms of trade would be in a disequilibrium) of our major trading
partners. Additionally, the US currency has found great strength on the
back of the 0.25 per cent interest rate hike in the federal funds rate by
the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) in its latest meeting on the 25th
of March, 1996.
Market experts are now expecting further rate hikes by the Federal Reserve
in the following months. The US dollar has simply been gaining ground
against every major currency on the face of the planet.
Admittedly, the kerb market rupee-dollar parity has lately been exhibiting
unusual strength. On the 14th and the 15th of the current month the rupee
actually appreciated in the kerb market by a cumulative factor of some 1.25
per cent or an economically significant Rs 0.50 per dollar in a matter of
two days alone.
The considerable decline in the open-market premium over the past quarter
also indicates that the market may not be looking towards any significant
official devaluation. The markets should not, however, ignore that periods
immediately preceding Eid-ul- Azha do tend to add transient vigour to the
Pakistani rupee because of foreign workers either coming back for Eid and
converting their dollars or Pakistani workers abroad sending back their
savings and paychecks to their families back home.
This may have also caused a seasonal surplus of dollars at the money
changers. The additional factor this time round has been the premature
announcement of drastic cut in tariffs that would actually take effect in
the next financial year.
Potential importers are holding back easing the downward pressure on the
rupee. For the following couple of months, this factor of holding back
imports just by itself could retard the volume of imports causing an
artificial build-up of reserves of between $200 million to $300 million
till the commencement of the next fiscal year.
The pent-up import demand is sure to surface in the months of July, August
and September during which there shall be an added (downward) pressure on
the countrys foreign exchange reserves as well as the rupee.
*From the trade-weighted standpoint, the rupee seems to have become
overvalued by a factor of more than 5 per cent. Our exporters have already
begun to feel the pinch. In case of a continued over-valuation most of our
exports, especially textile goods, would gradually become uncompetitive in
the international market and we run the risk of losing ground to our
competitors.
The official policy of an over-valued rupee would also shift spending from
domestically produced alternatives to imports. Foreign produced goods are
giving too tough a time to locally produced supplements. The demand for
made in Pakistan products has, at the same time been experiencing decline.
The relative prices of domestic production as compared to imports would
have to be adjusted sooner or later. The sooner the better.
The central bank must realise that using an over-valued rupee as an
instrument of policy would worsen the already alarming trade deficit. The
central bank must now intervene to move the terms of trade in favour of
domestic producers before the current disequilibrium in our terms of trade
results in an irrevocable damage to our export sector.
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970421
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The road to becoming an Asian tiger
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Aftab Ahmad
THE SPECTACULAR progress recorded by the East Asian economies during the
last three decades has won applause not only from the critics and analysts
in the East but also from the writers in the West. Jim Rohwer, in his
celebrated book Asia rising published in the United States recently,
describes the East Asian miracle as Thirty years of the fastest economic
growth in history.
During this period (1960-1990), seven poor East Asian countries (South
Korea, Taiwan, Singapore Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia) were
among the dozen best performing economies in the world. In the opinion of
the World Bank, there was only one chance in 1000 that it happened at
random. What were the factors behind the event? Jim Rohwer expresses his
view that despite the complexities of economic growth, its composition can
be broken down into a mere four categories. These are (a) The quantity of
labour (how many people are in the workeforce and how many hours they
work); (b) the quantity of physical capital (how much land and how many
machines, buildings and bridges) are available for the workforce to work
with; (c) the quality of labour (how well-educated and well trained the
workforce is) and (d) the efficiency with which the inputs of labour and
capital are combined. The brief answers to the question of how East Asia
succeeded in achieving its spectacular progress is that it managed to do an
exceptionally good job at injecting these four elements of growth into its
economies these are briefly explained here.
Beginning in the 1970s, the Asian workforce (defined as people aged 15 to
64), with the major exception of housewives, started growing at a fast
rate. This was mainly the result of an Asian baby boom that began in some
Asian countries in the late 1950s.
However, the quantity of labour available to an economy, is not the only
important factor. In some places, people work longer hours. In 1980s, for
example, the South Korean work week was some 10 hours longer than Japans
and more than 15 hours longer than West Germanys.
Yet another significant factor is that in the best performance Asian
economies workforce participation rates rose as income went up in the
1970s and 1980s, although that surprised some of the labour economists
who were used to participation rates falling as incomes rose.
Jim Rohwer expresses his view that an abundant supply of workforce can
actually do the opposite of what the population pessimists assumes. It can
give a big boost to the growth of a poor economy just when it most needs
it, subject to the condition that other things are in place to make the
bulk of labour productive.
Capital
The more physical capital at the disposal of each worker (capital in the
form of roads, machines, telephones and Computers) the more he can produce.
The creation of physical capital depends on financial capital which results
from the savings of people, corporations and the Government.
In the mid 1960s, the East Asian economies were saving only 16 per cent of
GDP, less than Latin America. In the early 1990s, East Asia, excluding
Japan, is saving as much as 35 per cent of GDP, four times as much as the
Indian subcontinent and Africa and twice as much as Latin America and the
United States.
Savings in East Asia went up, interalia, because East Asian governments
created an environment in which savings could flourish. The reward of the
saving, namely the interest rate, was left to be determined by the market
and, therefore, the same stood at a higher level, while inflation was
maintained at a lower level so that peoples incomes from their saving did
not erode. In addition, East Asian governments set up institutions such as
the postal saving banks in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan which made it
easier for people, specially in the country side, who were not conversant
with banks, to start saving formally.
Simultaneously, East Asia has been investing as much as it saved, which was
almost 35 per cent of GDP in 1995. The East Asian governments encouraged
private investment in several ways. Tax breaks for certain kinds of
favoured investments were used and in some countries, notably South Korea,
cheap credit was directed to favoured investments through the state-
controlled banking system. In most of East Asia, exchange rates and capital
controls were used at various times to channelise domestic savings into
investment at home when the savers might have preferred to invest abroad.
Most of all, it was ensured through government trade policies that the
prices of capital goods relative to other goods, did not rise.
Human resource
Among the most striking sights for any visitor to an East Asian city may be
the multitude of uniformed school children. Much of East Asia got an
educational jump over other poor countries in the 1960s and sped ahead at
a fast pace by the 1980s.
By the mid 1960s, the four dragons (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and South
Korea) had achieved universal primary education. Three other East Asian
countries namely Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia tried to follow in the
foot steps of the leaders. By 1987, each of the dragons also enrolled at
least three quarters of its children in secondary schools.
The secret behind the success of the East Asian countries in raising their
literacy rates so quickly was that their respective governments
concentrated their spending on primary and secondary education and they
educated girls as well as boys. This was different from the practice
followed in the sub-continent and Latin America where the budgets were
lavishly spent on university education. For instance, Indonesia spent 90
per cent of its education budget on primary schools against 40 per cent in
Bolivia (Latin America). South Korea spent 10 per cent of its education
budget on universities in 1985, against 43 per cent in Venezuela (Latin
America).
The outstanding educational performance of the East Asian children, could,
also be attributed to the hard work put in by them. The East Asian children
worked harder than European children and a lot harder than the American
children.
Total factor productivity
The magic element in economic growth, however, was neither the quantity and
quality of labour nor physical capital. After a while, these factors
started running out of steam. The supply of manpower declined and in the
case of capital the law of diminishing returns applied, sooner or later,
and growth slowed down or even came to a halt.
The key factor in case of the East Asian economies was that they used the
extra doses of inputs with imagination and extra ordinary efficiency.
Technically, it may be said that the East Asian economies applied the
inputs of labour and capital in such a way that total factor productivity
(TFP) was maintained at a high level. In rich countries, TFP accounted for
a third to a half of economic growth. As compared to the above, around a
third of East Asias growth had been from the TFP, according to the world
Banks calculations.
Lesson for Pakistan
Pakistan can learn a lot from the experience of the East Asian economies.
The present government has expressed its desire to make Pakistan a global
tiger. We have an abundant supply of manpower in the country.
However, unless we educate and train our manpower to make it productive,
unless we substantially raise our saving and invest it to create physical
capital and unless we learn to use our limited resources judiciously for
the development of our economy, there is no way Pakistan can think of
becoming a global or even an Asian Tiger in the foreseeable future.
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970421
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National debt retirement programme: some thoughts
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Mohammad Akbar
THE Pakistan Muslim League of Mian Nawaz Sharif got such a huge mandate in
the February 3 elections that has even surprised Mian Sahib himself. In one
of this interviews after a landsliding swap he mentioned that the margin of
his victory was beyond his expectations. In any other country or in any
other circumstances this type of mandate could have been taken as a very
healthy and welcome change which would have automatically followed a change
in the right direction for the economy and for the people of the country.
In case of Pakistan, unfortunately, this is not the case. Where such huge
mandate just baffles the electorate, and also makes it extremely difficult
for those who were given that type of mandate to come up to the
expectations and to be able to deliver. The remedies and solutions to the
complicated and multi dimensional problems that our economy face today are
not all that straight forward.
To put back on track a derailed economy, we need extraordinary people with
extraordinary will and competence. We hardly see any new faces. Finally and
most importantly it is the intensions and the motivation that counts the
most. Good intension and sincerity, however, could be a necessary condition
but it may not be sufficient condition to solve such paramount problems.
What is also needed is competence. If the presence of both these
conditions, that is will and ability are in doubt then the honey moon gets
over quit shortly.
The most popular and well-known problem that our economy face today among
host of other issues is that of debt, both internal and external. Debt
problem, especially foreign debt has been an issue not only for Pakistan
but for most of other developing countries as well.
It is generally observed that the recipient countries are often solely held
responsible, by both the people of this country and the done countries for
the problems arising out of this foreign debt phenomena. What we generally
tend to forget is the fact that there is another party involved in the
business which has her own perception and motives behind this whole
exercise.
Foreign aid, as different major donors have often said, constitutes a
distinct benefit to their business. Many countries are oriented towards
free enterprise in which firms of the donor countries can proper.
The institutions providing funds, especially the two most powerful, the
World Bank and the IMF, insists that their advice is purely technical,
cost-free and objective. But in fact the recommendations made by them
follow a predictable pattern, which accord with an easily recognisable
right-wing ideology and which, as has recently been the case with Pakistan,
at times caused considerable hardship to the recipient countries.
The conditions that these agencies attach to their lending are some times
precisely quantifiable; for example, the govt. of the recipient country
must devalue its currency, reduce restriction on imports, etc. The major
purpose of these conditions is to ensure smooth functioning of the system,
financial stability, and the avoidance of debt default etc.
The objective of foreign aid to Pakistan, supposedly, was to develop the
Socio-economic infrastructure which in turn helps to sustain a growth
process which is meant to reduce countrys dependence on foreign aid. We
have not only failed to achieve this objective but have also given rise to
an industrial structure which is highly capital intensive. Moreover the
terms and conditions attached to aid were not to promote economic growth
but to further economic interests of the donors countries. Why we agreed to
that kind of terms and conditions is a separate issue.
The rapid deterioration during the 80s in the budgetary position of the
government of Pakistan has led to increased resort both to domestic and
external borrowing. This has caused rapid growth in outstanding debt and in
the associated interest and repayment liabilities. In light of these
adverse trends, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) imposed
conditionalities on the government in 1988 as part of the medium term
structural adjustment programme (SAF).
The basic objective of these conditionalities was to bring down the sixes
of the budgetary deficit as a percentage of the GDP and there by reduce the
need for incremental borrowing. In this way the debt servicing burden can
be kept within manageable limits. The IMF concern naturally was that if the
deficit continues to increase then there is the danger that Pakistan will
eventually default in meeting its debt servicing obligations, which is the
only concern of these donor agencies.
However, despite all these SAF and ESAF programmes and conditionalities the
external debt kept on increasing due to sheer mismanagement and
incompetence of different governments. The aggregate external debt of
Pakistan has grown from US$ 3.75 billion in 1972-73 to US$ 15.2 billion in
1990 and to US$ 28 billion in 1997 almost doubled in last six years. There
has been a systematic divergence between net revenue receipts as a
percentage of GDP and total public expenditure on the federal account as
percentages of GDP. Both ratios have increased but former has increased
more than the later. As a consequence the ratio of the budgetary deficit of
GDP has shown a tendency t o rise, reaching the peak level of 8.6 per cent
in 19887-88.
Altogether, at the time when the IMF conditionalities were imposed in 1988-
89, the country had been through a period of profliage spending and
inflation had began to acquire a run away tendency, with the consumer price
index growing at a double digit rate for the first time since the 70s. With
or without the IMF conditionalities, it was clear that the time had come to
exercise fiscal restraints.
During 1988-90 this fiscal restraint was successfully exercised by the
first Benazir government in which expenditure were controlled and the
budgetary deficit as percentage of GDP was reduced considerably.
The accompany table clearly shows that if budgetary deficit as percentage
of GDP is any indicator or barometer for economic management, then Benazir
government on both the occasions had definitely performed much better then
the Muslim League Government. Most of the outstanding debt in the recent
years is accumulated in the early 90s when the budgetary deficit was more
then 8 per cent of GDP.
This is the brief history of how in we have managed our economy as a
result of which we are in such a dire state of affairs. Mian Nawaz Sharif,
whose Pakistan Muslim League has once again scored a big victory in the
February 3 elections, has started off with a very novel cure for this debt
repayment issue. First, he has appealed to every Pakistani abroad to send
US$ 1000/- to saving accounts at home in an effort to reduce the balance of
payment deficit from a record 6.6 percent of the GDP to 4.4 per cent this
year.
Then, in his address to the nation after assuming office for the second
time he has presented a programme popularly known as NDRP (National Debt
Retirement Programme). In view of many neutral economic experts it is more
of a Gimmickry then any serious effort to solve the problem. It is easy to
sceptical and to pick holes but carping criticism in a situation like this
would be out of place. However it is necessary to asses the issue and its
possible remedies more realistically.
The Prime Minister in his programme has given three options, namely
donations, Qarz-e-Hasana and fixed deposits for two years at a rate of
return higher than the going market rate. The most optimistic projections
reckon that this appeal for debt retirement would bring in minimum of $ 300
million and a maximum of $ 500 million by the end of June 97. Also it will
be a one shot item with no follow up on an annual basis. Remittances are
steadily declining 80 to 90 percent of the Pakistanis living abroad belong
to a working class and they simply cannot afford what Mian Sahib is asking
for. Therefore, according to the most conservative estimate the expected
amount should not be more then 50 to 60 million. But the question is: What
after that? This amount is not going to be a regular feature of our income.
The finance minister has mentioned in one of his statements that under the
programme government has managed to mop up only $ 130 million from both
within and outside Pakistan. And of the three option bulk of the money has
come under fixed deposits. It seems that the strategy will not only fail to
achieve its objectives in meeting the countrys immediate debt obligations
which is in the range or US $ 500 million. But it will further aggravate
the already alarming balance of payment and debt servicing issue two years
down the road when these fixed deposits will reach their maturity period at
an interest rate higher then the going market rate.
It is hard to under stand how does new government plan to take care of the
future expenditure which are bond to go up consistently unless defence
expenditure in reviewed, and population explosion is controlled.
What we really need to concentrate at is our tax administrations. We have
been suffering from debt burden because we have not been able to prioritise
our needs. We have not been able to earn enough to finance our socio-
economic and defence requirements.
The real problem that own economy face today is tax evasion. Has anybody
asked these big shots (including the prime minister himself) that come
every day on television and announce huge sums in prime minister scheme,
about their sources of income and how much tax they pay every year. Had
they been paying only 50 percent of their tax liability, we would not have
gotten to such a sorry state of affairs.
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970421
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The miserly rich, the stingy feudals
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Sultan Ahmed
SMALL MEN have given generously to the prime ministers national debt
reduction fund, while the rich are hesitating and giving tactfully and the
feudal have almost refused to make any donations even weeks after Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif issued his appeal to Pakistanis at home and overseas
for help.
Finance Minister Sartaj Aziz told the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of
Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Saturday that $200 million had been
received so far and out of that 20 per cent were donations, five per cent
Qarz-i-Hasna payments and the remainder - 75 per cent monetary deposits
that enjoy the announced enhanced interest rates.
He also said that out of these deposits $52 million were taken out of the
foreign exchange deposits of Pakistanis in our banks and $25 million out of
that were given as donations to the debt reduction fund.
He said the government did not favour people taking money out of the old
foreign exchange deposits and depositing them in the PMs fund as that
meant the government giving back the same foreign exchange deposits which
it had already used by one hand and receiving the same by the other hand.
However, in respect of the money withdrawn from the old deposits and given
to the government as out right donation its foreign exchange liabilities
are reduced to that extent and the banks have to pay no interest on that
score.
Resident and overseas Pakistanis have a total deposit of $8.5 billion in
Pakistani banks and the government has used all these funds as the foreign
exchange has to be remitted to the State Bank of Pakistan immediately after
that is received by the banks. The State Bank provides the banks with
rupees which it can use for lending at high interest rates. But when a
depositor withdraws his dollars the State Bank has to provide the dollars
needed.
The Finance Minister did not say how much out of the equivalent of $200
million received so far is in foreign exchange and how much in rupees as
the total includes small amounts given by a large number of Pakistanis at
home as ones days salary or more and considerable overall rupee
donations.
When the Prime Minister announced his scheme on February 23 to pay off
every cent for the countrys betterment the expectation was the total of
the three schemes would be around $2 billion, which though small compared
to the total foreign exchange debt of $40 billion, was a sizable sum, and
that would mark a good beginning in the efforts of the nation to reduce the
colossal national debt and increase self-reliance. And while more was
expected as foreign exchange deposits for two years, if not the maximum of
five years, the PM said the State Bank of Pakistan would guarantee all such
deposits and interest on them would be paid every three months which, in
fact, would enhance the annual rate of interest. And the interest rate was
raised from the 6 to 6.4 per cent per year to 7.5 per cent each year for
two years. And the rate rose by half a per cent for each year to 9 per cent
for five years.
The immediate interest of the government was a two-year relief and
meanwhile pay off some of the heavy short-term borrowing by the Benazir
government and the caretaker set-up. The caretakers are reported to have
borrowed over $2 billion as short-term loans at high interest rates.
The popular response to the PMs appeal has been touching. He had spoken of
a little boy with his five dollars who was determined to hand it over to
him, of widows who had made large donations and Mr Sartaj Aziz spoke of an
unemployed man with Rs 100 who gave it to the national cause. However, the
response of the rich persons to the appeal has been inadequate and Mr
Sartaj Aziz confessed that at the FPCCI headquarters. He said the amount
received despite such popular enthusiasm and touching sentiments at the
poor peoples level had been far less than expected.
Poor response
The response of overseas Pakistanis has not been good either. Mr Ejazul Haq
led a delegation to the UAE and announced he expected $50 million from
there. The mission which went to the US led by Lt. Gen. (retd) Majeed Malik
received pledges for $40 billion but clearly the total received so far is
far below the $90 million even when good returns have been assured for
their deposits.
When the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) announced Rs 10
million at the Businessmens Convention addressed by the PM, he brushed
aside that offer saying APTMA was capable of much larger payments. It later
spoke of Rs 30 million but not much has been heard about that since then.
Mr S.M. Muneer, former President of the FPCCI and minister in the Benazir
government announced $1 million earlier and has repeated that several
times, including when Mr Sartaj Aziz addressed the Karachi Chamber of
Commerce last week and that gave the impression that he had donated or
deposited several million dollars, which is not true.
Miserly feudals
When it came to the feudal lords, hardly anyone made any donation. A few of
them who appeared on PTV said they had no money at all, including the top
dignitary of the State.
The question asked is: why do Pakistanis who hold total deposits of $8.5
billion in our banks not want to transfer some of that to the PMs fund and
get higher returns and on a quarterly basis instead of the normal six
monthly basis.
The reason is the bigger depositors, particularly industrialists and
businessmen, have obtained rupee loans of up to 90 per cent of their
deposits at concessional interest of 15 to 17 per cent while the normal
rate of interest is 22 to 25 per cent. And they uses this money for
trading, speculation and dealing in property etc., and so they cant
transfer their deposits to the PMs fund now despite the higher interest it
offers. Some others do not want to tie up their dollar deposits for two
years as they may need it for commercial transactions or other purposes.
But the government wants a breathing space of at least two years before
such amounts have to be paid back and that is not a very long period to ask
for.
What is likely to happen now is that some of the employees in the private
sector and others who had pledged to donate one days salary every month
until the end of the year may not do likewise.
They may ask that if the feudal lords who have prospered in this country
and rule it, and the rich industrialists and businessmen would not give
generously to the national cause why must they continue to make sacrifices
for the nation?
The prime ministers cannot go much further than he has done in offering
attractive and guaranteed returns on the deposits the rich may make. And he
has promised to send letters of appreciation to those who send $100,000 and
above and give gold medals to those who send a million dollars and above
which means Rs 40 million and above.
Stingy industrialists
What is striking is that while the businessmen and industrialists rejoice
over the fact they now a real businessmens government and as many as 35
businessmen are in the National Assembly alone, their response to the PMs
appeal has been poor, and too poor, compared to the popular response or
donations of the low income groups.
Earlier a few of the persons wanting to give Rs 10 million or more from
Karachi, had wanted to present the cheque personally to the PM, but they
were told to send the cheque to Islamabad as the PM did not have the time
to meet them. But he is well advised to meet small groups of 10 to 12 at
brief tea parties as he tours the country and receive the money personally
and give them the benefit of the publicity they may seek if the amount is
substantial.
And, if the FPCCI could pool all the demands and implorations of its
affiliate chambers and associations and press the government to accept
them, its President, Ilyas Bilour, and other officials can mobilise a large
fund from its affiliate bodies.
For the time being, the PM says he is holding on to the fund he has
collected and is not letting that be used for any other purpose.
For any kind of debt reduction proper, he needs far more funds and affluent
Pakistanis overseas and rich Pakistanis at home have to come to the rescue
of the country now when Pakistan is not asking for any pledges at this
months meeting of the Aid to Pakistan Consortium in Paris for $2.8 billion
but only submitting its proposals and projects and would wait until after
the annual budget for pledging, unlike in the past when the pledges were
made long before the budget.
Clearly the donors want to see the shape of the budget and effective budget
deficit reduction measures and positive steps to revitalise the economy
before they pledge their aid for next year. So prior to that, Pakistanis
have to make the PMs efforts at promoting self-reliance substantial and a
sustained success.
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970422
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Provinces to get Rs1203bn from pool money in five years
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, April 21: The federal government will disburse Rs1203.61 billion
among the four provinces during the next five years in the form of
divisible pool transfers, straight transfers and special
grants/subventions, according to National Finance Commission award (NFC).
*From the divisible pool of Rs1005.48 billion, the four federating units
would get Rs 139.61 billion in fiscal 1997/98 beginning July 1; Rs165.00
billion in 1998/99; Rs195.22 billion in 1999/2000; Rs231.30 billion in
2000/2001 and Rs274.35 billion in 2001/2002.
It may be mentioned, that the Rs1005.48 billion to be distributed by the
centre among the four provinces from the divisible pool in the next five
years is, only 37.5 per cent of the net proceeds of the divisible pool and
the remaining 62.5 per cent would be spent by the federal government.
The money would be divided among the provinces according to their
population based on the 1981 census. The shares would be worked out again
when new ratios of population would be finally adopted after the next
census.
According to the formula adopted by the NFC for the distribution of
divisible pool, Punjab would get 57.88 per cent of the total share of the
four provinces; Sindh 23.28 per cent; the NWFP 13.54 per cent and
Balochistan 5.30 per cent.
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970421
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New gas reserve discovered in Khirthar
-------------------------------------------------------------------
M. Ziauddin
ISLAMABAD, April 20: A huge natural gas reserve, the first in the Khirthar
range, and most probably the second largest ever to be discovered in
Pakistan, is likely to be tapped soon, according to preliminary estimates
of the exploration well drilled recently by a joint-venture company.
The sources close to the joint venture, which is led by a British oil and
gas firm exploring the Khirthar mountain range, had indicated the reserves
running up to a trillion cubic feet of gas while the assessments done in
London speak of more than two trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.
However, in the final assessment, the estimates could go up to 8 trillion
cubic feet which would be just about two trillion less than that of the Sui
field reserves discovered in 1952.
Secretary petroleum, Dr Gulfaraz Ahmad, seemed over-cautious while talking
to Dawn about the new discovery. He said that he would not be able to say
anything about the potential of the field until and unless the second well
is drilled.
He indicated that more significant than the potential reserves of the field
is the fact that gas has been discovered in a new range (Khirthar). He said
Sui and Pirkoh were located in one range while Attock, Dakhni, etc, in the
other range, and now we have a third range which has shown gas potential.
A recent study has estimated the potential gas reserves of Pakistan so far
to be 200 trillion cubic feet. Earlier studies had said that Pakistan
contained a large basinal area with discovered/proven gas reserves of 30
trillion cubic feet.
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970422
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Foreclosure laws to recover loans
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ihtashamul Haque
ISLAMABAD, April 21: The PML government will soon introduce foreclosure
laws to recover loans through the liquidation of assets without following
the long litigation process.
I have today met the advisor on law and parliamentary affairs to discuss
early introduction of foreclosure laws and recover state money from those
who do not pay back their loans, said the minister for commerce and
investment Mr Ishaq Dar.
In an interview with Dawn here on Monday, he said that he has proposed to
the government that there should be strict foreclosure laws that should
liquidate the assets of the defaulters of loans without any loss of time.
I have also proposed that there should be strict laws to prevent the
bouncing of cheques as is done in many countries, he added.
The commerce minister said that the government was currently involved in
finalizing foreclosure laws to recover huge loans and that the issue would
be taken up with full force.
There is no hope for the settlement of thousands of cases of litigation
without having foreclosure laws, he said adding that time has come when
there should not be any lapses in early recovery of the state funds.
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970424
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Immediate privatization of PTCL doubtful
-------------------------------------------------------------------
M. Ziauddin
ISLAMABAD, April 23: Privatization of Pakistan Telecom Ltd (PTCL), in the
near future, has become highly doubtful in view of its declining
profitability and lack of buyer interest in an enterprise whose future
viability has become uncertain due to the fast paced developments taking
place in information technology.
According to one estimate, the elusive strategic buyer whose search is on
for the last two years will have to mobilise more than a billion dollars to
lift 26 per cent of the PTCL shares.
First, it is the declining profitability of the organization, which has
reportedly kept the intending buyers away from the PTCL.
Then they reportedly lost all interest in the enterprise following its
reorganization in which it has been denuded of most of its important
customers. Even the microwave system has been transferred to the National
Telecommunication Company created recently to secure the local sensitive
services of the civil and military sectors.
And finally, the future viability of the organization became highly
uncertain when Pakistan early this year signed the WTO agreement on
telecommunication which would liberate the service inside the country in
2004 forcing serious tariff cuts. Already, the PTCL has agreed to reduce by
18 per cent the international rates with two US carriers in two tranches.
Concerned quarters have already started taking a look at the matter from an
entirely a new angle which entails rendering the PTCL totally autonomous
with the government relinquishing its claim on the Rs 6 billion of the
organizations annual revenue as its share of profits.
Experts in the field are proposing that if at all privatization has to be
done then, it could be taken in hand by breaking up the corporation in
various economically viable circuits like the Karachi circuit and Lahore
circuit etc. These packages, they said would be affordable even for the
local investor to buy either on his own or by establishing joint ventures
or consortias.
But before undertaking this exercise, they said it was essential to frame a
regulatory authority armed with laws which while not stifling the sector
would, however, protect the countrys sovereignty and its independence of
action.
In this connection, they said since the information technology has
revolutionized the entire concept of telecommunication and information
making the two too much interdependent, it has become necessary at this
juncture to merge the ministries of telecommunication, information and
science and technology so that when the laws and regulations are made in
this regard an unified line of thought is taken rather than the present
fragmented approach which had resulted in the promulgation of a defective
ordinance (electronic media regulatory authority) during the caretaker
government.
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970425
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Donors happy over economic restructuring
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Shadaba Islam
BRUSSELS, April 24: What a difference a new government makes. A year ago,
Western aid donors more or less pouted their way through the World Banks
annual assessment of Pakistans economy, making it clear that Islamabad
would have to do more much more to prove it was committed to serious
economic reform. The changes were never made. Not surprisingly, neither the
World Bank nor the International Monetary Fund shed any tears when Benazir
Bhutto was removed from office last November.
Switch to this weeks meeting in Paris and you notice a visible change in
donors attitude. Officials from the World Bank, the European Union
countries and others congratulated Finance Minister Sartaj Aziz for what
World Bank Vice-President Mieko Nishimizu described as a bold and far-
reaching structural reform programme that triggers a fundamental paradigm
shift in Pakistans economic policy framework.
We are impressed by the new governments policy decisions, another World
Bank official commented. This is not just window-dressing.
Compliments are all very well, but, clearly, the proof of the pudding will
be in the eating. Donors will be watching carefully to see if the
impressive economic revival programme is implemented as planned. The test
is how these reforms are put into effect, the World Bank official said.
Western governments have taken note of the Pakistans request for 2.2
billion dollars in fresh commitments. But, the actual pledges as expected
wont come until later.
Mr Aziz told Dawn that he had asked for understanding from donors,
arguing that while Pakistan was moving in the right direction to bring down
the deficits, they should not expect quick results.
Donors were surprised at our awareness of the problem, Aziz said, adding
that a similar appeal for more comprehension and time would also be put to
the IMF.
For the moment, Western donors appear convinced that after years of
ramshackle government, Pakistan is finally coming to grips with its
economic problems.
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970426
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Most MNCs remain under pressure on KSE
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
KARACHI, April 25: Index shares on Friday came in for active support in
what the dealers called a belated reaction to the consortiums positive
signals and a clean bill of health for the governments economic policies
from the donor countries. The KSE 100-share recovered about 17 points at
1,538.01.
The broader market was, however, not that responsive apparently owing to
weekend considerations but there were signs of recovery on most of the blue
chip counters, dealers said.
Although there were no massive activities on the current favourites,
instances of active short-covering at the lower levels were not wanting,
which in turn aided the underlying sentiment, they added.
However, fears of further devaluation of the rupee were there and this
perception was further reinforced by one per cent decline in the value of
the rupee in kerb at Rs 41.35 and 41.45 for buying and selling
respectively. The net decline was of the order of 25 paisa over the
previous close.
They said any rally at the weekend session pointed to the advent of a bull-
run next week and there is a strong possibility of a big rebound after
trading resumes next week.
Some others said the broader market should have joined hands with the
consolidation forces but stayed away owing to the news of sectarian
killings in the Punjab and fears of their fallout here.
The index was last quoted around 1,538.01 points as compared to 1,521.37 a
day earlier, recovering 16.64 points thanks to active buying in most of the
index shares.
Most of the leading bank shares came in for active support at the
attractively lower and generally finished recovered, although fractionally
under the lead of Platinum, Schon, Soneri Bank, MCB and Bank Al-Habib.
Insurance shares followed them rising modestly, major gainers among them
being PTC, Adamjee Insurance and some others, but textiles shares fell
fractionally across the board for want of buying.
Cement, energy and chemicals shares performed well on active short-covering
but there were not many major gains as price changes were fractional,
reflecting that the current improvement could be sustained next week.
However, the weakness of the leading MNCs weighed heavily against the
underlying sentiment as foreign funds were not that aggressive buyers.
Volume was, however, light owing to a short Friday session, falling to 32
million shares from the previous 40 million shares but losers maintained a
strong lead over the gainers at 128 to 94, with 77 shares holding on to the
last levels.
Bulk of the support remained confined to the current favourites as
investors were not inclined to jump to the bandwagon partly because of
weekend considerations.
PTC vouchers, which have been under massive selling for the last four
sessions, recovered 80 paisa at Rs 26.40 on volume of 13 million shares, a
half of the total.
Hub-Power, ICI Pakistan and Dewan Salman followed them amid active short-
covering and were quoted modestly higher.
The big gainers were led by PSO, which was close to Rs 300 mark owing to
persistent rise during the last few sessions on active short-covering by
some foreign investors.
MCB, Bank Al-Habib, Sui Northern, Johnson and Philips EMCO and Diamond
Industries were among the other prominent gainers.
Most of the MNCs remained under pressure and eased further though modestly
under the lead of Burshane Pakistan, Dawood Hercules, Knoll, Parke-Davis
and Siemens Pakistan, falling by one rupee to Rs 3. But the biggest loss
was noted in Abbott Lab, which fell by Rs 10 on selling prompted by the
news of lower interim profit.
Apart from PTC, the most active list was topped by Hub-Power, up 65 paisa
on 6.015 million shares followed by ICI Pakistan, higher 40 paisa on 5.075
million shares, Dewan Salman, firm 20 paisa on 1.021 million shares and
FFC-Jordan Fertilizer, higher 35 paisa on 0.354 million shares.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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970422
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Inevitably, the people lose
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ardeshir Cowasjee
THEIR bills, we pay. As to the power they exercise over us, we have no say
as to its use.
Such is the source of our existing profound instability. Be they our
elected representatives (who, judging from their medical expenses which we
bear, would all seem to be so sick as to be almost on their last legs), be
they bureaucrats, or uniformed officers, they are mostly selfish and
greedy, with no time for the well-being of the people, and too many of them
are corrupt.
The people can but protest. The government has finally taken a lame limp
step forward to advance the accountability process. Fiscal institutions,
the nationalised banks and DFIs, the holders in trust of the peoples
money, are the main repositories from which the politicians, aided and
abetted by the bureaucrats, enrich themselves and their friends, knowing
fully well when loans are given that there is no chance of recovering even
half of what is lent, let alone the servicing charges. Influentials have
loans rescheduled, the wily have them converted into non-voting shares,
which the government money manipulators willingly accept, knowing they are
but worthless pieces of paper.
Take the case of the sacred National Investment Trust, eligible to hold
pension funds. In 1993, when Kunwar Idris, the then senior-most secretary
of the federal government, retired from the chairmanship of the NIT, Prime
Minister Benazir Bhutto, appointed Asadullah Shaikh, a man with no
experience of banking or of finance, to head that institution.
The regulatory authority, the State Bank of Pakistan, was silent on
Asadullahs appointment, as it was silent when he fled our shores last year
having impoverished the NIT after enriching himself and his masters. The
new man, Raziur Rahman, took over without counting what was left in his
counting-house and now has no money to pay his unit-holders who are asking
for their units to be encashed. He is even issuing cheques which bounce - a
crime in any country.
Then there is the Muslim Commercial Bank, with its head office in Karachi,
and over 500 branches scattered around this country and abroad. Its chief
executive, Hussain Lawai, was shot out by Legharis caretakers. Since then,
the bank is being run without a president or chief executive, its affairs
supervised by its non-executive chairman. On March 28 this year the State
Bank wrote to the MCB on the subject of the Appointment of President and
Chief Executive:
Please refer to your letter of March 19, 1997, on the subject cited above.
In this connection we have to advise that the matter of appointing a
professional banker as the President may be expedited. However, the State
Bank has no objection to the continuation of Mian Mohammed Mansha till
such appointment is effected which under no circumstances should take more
than a year. Infact, State Bank of Pakistan would expect it to be done much
earlier.
Mansha, an able and hard-working man who presides over the fortunes of a
dozen large business and industrial enterprises, is not a professional
banker and cannot devote sufficient time to the MCB. No bank can be run
efficiently without a full-time chief executive. Such is the present
practice of accountability.
This leads me to Kunwar Idriss column published in this newspaper on April
14, and particularly to his sentences The accountability, for a while
believed to have been shelved, has started but at the wrong end and in the
wrong hands. Its first target should have been the tainted politicians. The
bureaucrats had played but second-fiddle to them in the game of high
corruption, at least since 1989 when the parliamentary system was fully
restored.
I do not agree with my good friend Kunwar Idris, for whom I have a lot of
time. He is an honest man.
Born in Sialkot in 1933, he went to school wherever his father, a sessions
judge, was posted, to Gordon College in the hills, and on to Government
College, Lahore. He was selected by the Federal Public Services Commission,
opted for the Civil Service of Pakistan and was enrolled in 1957. He spent
a year in the Civil Services Academy in Lahore. Thereafter he was posted
for a few months in Comilla, East Pakistan, as a trainee/assistant
magistrate, 3rd Class, where he learnt Bengali. In 1959 he was sent to
Jesus College, Cambridge. He returned to be posted to the tribal areas
where he spent seven years learning Pashto and Khowar and the psychology of
the primitive Mohmands, who were kept uneducated by the countrys rulers
and had a literacy rate of 0.5 per cent. He was an assistant commissioner,
a political agent, and chief adviser to Saif-ul-Mulk, the minor ruler of
Chitral state. He was shot at twice by the tribesmen, not to kill him, but
just to advise him that they were not totally enamoured of his incursions
in their domain.
In 1966 he returned to the Plains of Lahore as director of mineral
resources. He was in this post for only a few months. General Ayubs son-
in-law Najibullah and General Musas brother Sardar Ishaq both wanted all
possible bajri concessions and both decided that Idris would do neither of
them any good, so he was shot out.
He came to Karachi in 1967 as director of excise and taxation, in which
post he remained for two years. In 1969 he was promoted to district
magistrate, staying in Karachi for a further four years. Those were
turbulent six years, under Ahyub, Yahya and Bhutto. The first two never
asked him to do anything out of line, and on the rare occasion when he was
requested to do something not quite kosher, on his pointing it out to them
they willingly gave in. When DM, before dawn one day in 1972, a terrorized
SDM, Mumtaz Baig, awoke him to inform him of what had transpired during
that night. He had been hauled out of his house by Home Secretary Mohammed
Khan Junejo, taken to Altaf Gauhars house where he saw the police plant a
suitcase containing an old Playboy, half a bottle of whisky, a forged
passport, travel papers, and a few packets of contraceptives, on which
evidence he was instructed to order Altafs arrest. Idris asked whether
he had come to lodge a complaint about the wrong he had been forced to do.
No, said the frightened SDM. He was a religious man and was confessing,
hoping to ease his conscience.
*From 1973 onwards Idris remained in Sindh as secretary of various
departments. He served as home secretary under Generals Jehanzeb, Iqbal and
Abbasi, all governors of Sindh. In General Iqbals time, in 1978, he
allowed Benazirs friend Victoria Schofield to stay with her at 70 Clifton
where she was under house arrest. Zia was furious with Idris, but Iqbal
took full responsibility for his officers conduct and stood by him.
In 1981 he left Karachi for Islamabad and was posted as additional
secretary to various federal ministries. In 1985 he returned to Karachi to
head the Pakistan Automobile Corporation. In 1988 Benazir insisted on
making him chief secretary of Sindh under Qaim ali Shah, a tough and nasty
job as he was told by Benazir that when her husband spoke it must be taken
that she has spoken and his orders must take precedence over all else.
Within a year, Idris unwilling to oblige, was shunted out to Bankers Equity
as its president.
In Nawazs first round, as secretary of the ministry of production, Idris
was OSDeed for a few months for having raised the price of cement. He was
brought back as secretary of the petroleum ministry and again OSDeed by
Chaudhry Nisar for being too independent.
In 1993 he returned to Karachi to head the NIT. He retired on his sixtieth
birthday. As form and custom dictate, he duly wrote off to Prime Minister
Benazir Bhutto asking for an appointment to say goodbye. Months went by and
finally he received a letter from a flunkie telling him the PM was far too
busy but should he have a grievance he could see her deputy secretary.
In 1996, the caretaker chief minister of Sindh, Mumtaz Bhutto, inducted
Kunwar Idris as his senior minister and posted that other honest and God-
fearing serving bureaucrat, Noor Ahmed Shah as his principal secretary,
both appointments lending credibility to Mumtazs administration. The fact
that in 1997, the succeeding elected Chief Minister Liaquat Jatoi could not
afford to retain Noor Ahmed in his secretariat has augmented the latters
reputation.
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970421
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Accountability with justice
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Omar Kureishi
THAT thorough accountability should be carried out is the demand of most
people. It is a demand that has taken the form of a battle-cry. That this
accountability should be all-embracing rather than selective is what
natural justice would require.
At no time should this accountability become a witch-hunt or seem to be
vindictive if what we seek is a moral cleansing of our society. What is
even more important is that it should be depoliticised and there should be
a respect shown for the due process of law. The primary objective should be
to nail those who are guilty of corruption but the methods should not be
pre-emptive and should be based on the assumption of innocence with the
burden of proof lying with those who are framing the charges or making the
allegations. Perceptions and newspaper reports may be the smoke that shows
the likelihood of a fire but in themselves do not constitute evidence. We
have to get it right and what should emerge in the end is a respect for the
law.
We need too to examine whether corruption is a cause or is it an effect.
Not quite whether the chicken came first or the egg. But those social
forces that influence the conduct of people. There is first of all the
greed factor and there is nothing that can be done to change human nature.
But were there adequate checks and balances in the system that could have
put some impediments in the way of the greedy?
In Black Moods which was a collection of columns I wrote in 1956, that is
to say 41 years ago, I had wondered how it was possible for a man to live
beyond his means. I had asked: have two and two stopped making four? I had
speculated that people who lived beyond their means had, perhaps, acquired
the powers of alchemy, transmuting the lead of their income into the gold
of luxurious living. This kind of evidence has been before our eyes. Had
some preventive measures been taken then, some kind of institutional
disapproval could have been established. Things have gone progressively
worse and what had then seemed like a trickle has become a flood.
The rules of doing business with the government were made so cumbersome and
the babu mentality, so entrenched, made into a state-of-the-art, that the
only way one could get anything accomplished, even getting something as
lowly as a passport, was to pay a sort of unofficial tax, not to the
government but to a servant of the government. To this day, no one has seen
fit to simplify government rules, to make them result-oriented. Now we are
in a Catch-22. To simplify the rules would mean depriving thousands of low
level functionaries, the file-pushers, of a livelihood. Like overtime, this
little bit of baksheesh has become an integral part of the take-home pay
packet. This is the level of corruption that most affects the common folk.
They are not only pushed around, made to appear like supplicants even to
get what is rightfully theirs but they must pay in the bargin. It is even
argued, and not facetiously, that without this kind of illegal (?)
gratification the machinery of government would come to a standstill.
An advertisement has been appearing in the newspapers issued by the Ehtesab
Cell of the Prime Ministers Secretariat. It is possible that it is an
entirely well meaning message. But there is a menacing ring to it. The
advertisement is an invitation to provide information of any known wrong-
doing by employees of such organisations as WAPDA, Customs, Income Tax,
Police, Civil Administration, PIA, Railways, Pakistan steel, Development
Authorities, Communications or other government organisations. The
advertisement further offers that if you wish your name and identity not to
be disclosed, it will not. And that the first one to provide correct
information will receive 10% of the recovered wealth as reward.
We are skating on thin ice. If someone has genuine information, he should
be prepared to come forward. It is a cardinal principle of law that an
accuser should face the accused. The offer of a reward sends the wrong
message. But most of all, the advertisement provides no information about
penalties for making false accusations, accusations that may be motivated
by malice or point scoring or just getting even with ones superiors. No
one should be encouraged to bear false witness and unless some safeguards
are provided, we will be opening up a can of worms. We should not turn
employees of these organisations into informers. We are putting an
immense amount of authority in the hands of employees without any
responsibility. This could become a dangerous precedent.
I had written in earlier columns that the menace in accountability should
be removed and it should be seen as an audit. As an election slogan,
accountability was offered as a panacea to all our ills. And by the same
token, corruption the cause of them. This was too simplistic. It did not
and does not take into account such factors as mis-management or wrong
policies, errors of judgment, misreading of the reality on the ground.
Corruption has been a contributory factor but is not the sole reason why
things have gone wrong. Now is the time for balance. For restoring the
morale of the people and if at all possible for healing wounds. We live in
an extremely dangerous political neighbourhood. No one should under-
estimate the volatility of the region. Pakistan needs peace both at home
and in its neighbourhood. Equally, we should try and reduce the temperature
both at home and abroad. And get on with putting the economy back on the
rails and start to make plans that will improve the quality of life of the
majority of our people.
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970426
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Crossing the line
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Mazdak
AS a rule, I never respond to comment or criticism published in the letters
to the editor. I feel that I have enough opportunity to air my views in
these columns, so if readers want to have a go at me once in a while, that
is their prerogative.
But a few weeks ago, Ms Naasia Azhars letter accusing me of inconsistency
in my political views made me re-think my position. Basically, in an
earlier column (Waiting for miracles; April 5, 1997) I had confessed to
recanting my loyalty to the PPP and the Bhuttos, and Ms Azhar had taken me
to task, suggesting that I would have been spared the anguish of looking
back over all these wasted years if I had based my politics on principles
rather than personalities. Shes right, of course, but without wishing to
justify or rationalise my position, let me say that I do not feel I have
been inconsistent: I am still where I was, while the PPP and its leadership
have undergone a sea change, taking the party far from its moorings.
I still believe in social justice and everything this implies. I think the
state has a moral responsibility towards its citizens, especially the
weaker sections of society. And while I accept that Bhuttos
nationalization was an unmitigated disaster, I do not think the state can
privatize everything in sight, and walk away from its primary duty of
providing a certain minimum level of education and health care. Although I
respect the efficiency of the private sector, I do not think it has either
the inclination or the obligation of filling the vacuum created by the
states abdication of its duties and responsibilities. In brief, I want to
see the emergence of a system where the profit motive is tempered by a
social conscience.
There was a fleeting moment in our turbulent political history when, all
too briefly, there was a glimmer of hope that a party and a government
would transform these utopian ideas into reality. Or at least thats how it
seemed in the late sixties to an idealistic young man of vaguely
socialistic inclinations. And when the dream started growing sour very soon
after the PPP was voted into power, I and a lot of liberals made up all
sorts of excuses to justify Bhuttos fascistic tendencies. Basically, we
had nowhere to go, and we stuck it out, hoping for a miracle.
Alas, what we got was a nightmare instead: Zias decade-long assault on
human rights and personal liberties persuaded many who had earlier jumped
off the PPP bandwagon to reconsider their position as this was the only
party that provided any meaningful opposition to the military junta. And
Bhuttos farcical trial and his tragic end reinforced our support for his
daughter and his party. Indeed, most democratic, anti-Zia forces coalesced
behind Benazir Bhutto. Her first stint in power was condoned by many
because of the difficult situation in which she found herself. However,
there were no such excuses the second time around.
And so to the present: Ms Azhar of Lahore accuses me of going from one
extreme to the other because I praised Nawaz Sharifs political courage and
maturity in doing away with Article 58(2)(b) of the Constitution. This
brings me to a train of thought I have been mulling over for the last few
days: when does a change of heart (or head) become opportunism? Or to put
it more succinctly, when does a convert become a lota? In my book, the line
is crossed as soon as there is an element of profit, career advancement or
political advantage involved in the conversion.
There can be many reasons for changing ones political allegiance. For
instance, a loss of belief in an ideology can switch one off a movement or
a party. Many people I know have lost their faith in socialism as a result
of changes in the erstwhile Communist bloc.
There are probably more cases of political activists becoming disillusioned
with the antics of their leaders, and the recent election results reflect
this tendency as hundreds of thousands of PPP supporters stayed away on
election day. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to support a political
party consistently, given the inconsistency of the leadership.
And I think this is entirely desirable as it should, in theory, keep
leaders on their toes. I dont think it is a good idea for our politicians
to take their supporters for granted, although most of them do, none more
arrogantly than Benazir Bhutto.
Although Ms Azhar is quite right in suggesting that I should learn to
support principles rather than personalities and parties, the fact is
that, ultimately, politics is about choices, and in the real world, we
often choose the lesser of the evils before us. Many people I know did not
vote last February because they found all the parties and candidates
equally odious.
Fortunately, millions went out to vote despite the lack of options and for
good or ill, a stable government has been elected to office. Had we all sat
back and waited for the perfect politician and party to emerge, we might
have to wait a very long time indeed. Many friends refuse to buy this
lesser of the evils argument and, like Ms Azhar, insist on principles.
Well, good luck to them. At the risk of sounding cynical, I would like to
remind them that there is very little room for principles in politics.
Indeed, the profession is not noted for its adherence to any principle,
unless the attainment of power can be counted as one. The reality lies in
grubby, ambitious men and women intent on grabbing power for their own
ends.
Why then should good, decent people get involved in politics at all?
Because it affects our lives at every level, and we cant afford to opt
out; and if we do, we forfeit the right to complain about poor governance
if we have chosen to sit at home on election day.
Just as war is too important to leave to the generals, politics is too
important to leave to the politicians.

970421
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Ban on Sohail loss to countrys cricket
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Lateef Jafri
A second cricket ban of two years on national opening batsman, Aamir
Sohail, when an earlier penalisation of one month had just lapsed, has been
termed as too harsh by the games observers. They think that the country
and its cricket will be the losers when there is a dearth of organised and
experienced openers and Saeed Anwars fitness is a question mark.
Will Rameez Raja in his decline and at the age 35 be tested again and
again? Or will Salim Elahi go through the mill even though he lacks the
big-match temperament, ask the enthusiasts of the game?
This appears to be a crisis period for the national squad. The injury to
the fearful pacer, Waqar Younis, was a hard blow to the side just on the
eve of the first Test in Sri Lanka, when captain Wasim Akram had a suspect
shoulder. No doubt Mohammad Zahid and Shahid Nazir are fine prospects and
have the energy to go on and on, even on unresponsive strips, they do not
belong to the class of Wasim and Waqar; neither they are as hardened
campaigners as the two renowned Ws. Many are worried that the all-rounder
Shahid Afridi, a courageous slogger and a clever spinner, may be shunted
out of team for good. He did not get the selectors nod for the Lankan
trip.
Apparently the first action against Aamir Sohail, whatever may be the
explanation of the boards disciplinary panel, was taken on flimsy grounds.
If at all the family members of a noted Test and one-day international
player are harsly treated in the pavilion of the Qadhafi Stadium he will
feel insulted; he will react emotionally. The disciplinary committee of the
PCB instead of understanding the sensitive nature of the incident slapped a
ban on Sohail of one month, a short one but still it disallowed him to take
part in any cricketing activity.
As soon as the first ban had run its course the same two members the
third member of the committee abstained from the deliberations of the panel
though he reportedly concurred with the nature of the penalisation asked
the cricketer to appear before them for questioning. The charge: violating
the code of conduct for publicly levelling some allegations which degraded
the team and tarnished the image of the country. The allegations of betting
and match fixing are not new; they are finding space in the print media for
the last few years. Certainly the foreign critics are whipping up a
campaign against Pakistan cricket and creating doubts over its strength and
credibility.
Even Javed Burki during his tenure as chairman of the ad hoc committee,
after having seen the documents at the ICC headquarters at Lords, had
acknowledged its seriousness and had promised to take severe action against
the cricketers in this nefarious game, which reportedly had its beginning
in the home series against Australin (1994-95). The rumours of match-fixing
were even rife during Pakistans February 1995 tour of Zimbabwe. Burki did
not initiate any steps for investigation and action but recently made a
complete U-turn by denying that he had expressed any such opinion. The
disciplinary committee, while making known its verdict, insisted that the
Test all-rounder should have provided proof of his charges. The board, the
committee felt, cannot take action just on complaints; they had to be
substantiated with proof.
Aamir Sohail, while sticking to his stand, was of the view that he had
submitted the needed documentary evidence to the Ministry of Sports, to
which the disciplinians had their reservations. Besides they were not asked
by the Ministry to stop the process of probe.
The opening batsman, having served the country to the best of his ability,
termed the board panels decision an act of victimisation. He will be out
of action upto April 1999, the cut-off date for selection to the next World
Cup squad. Being caught in the whirlpool of bias, will he be considered for
the national side?
Many veteran cricketers, organisers and analysts feel that making public
statements and maligning the team-mates comes under the mischief of code of
conduct. The charges should have been detailed in a proper manner, if at
all the board was to take up the issue for a thorough probe and inquiry.
However, they are of the view that though betting and gambling had their
origin from the days that cricket started as a recreative pursuit in the
village green of England, it has become an international phenomenon
nowadays. The cartels are active in major Indian cities, Sharjah, England,
Australia and the Caribbean islands. However, throwing of the ties and
match-fixing as addenda to the international gambling and betting are new
evils which cannot but be condemned.
The Australians Tim May, Shane Warne and Mark Waugh had complained against
the offer of bribe by Salim Malik, then captaining Pakistan in the matches
on the Australian tour of this country (1994-95 season) but Mr Justice
Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, a former Supreme Court Judge, forming a one-man
inquiry committee, wanted the Australians to give evidence before him. The
complainants refused to turn up and the whole case crumbled.
The disease was infectious. The corruption later spread to Zimbabwe while
the Pakistanis were on tour there under the leadership of Salim Malik. Even
though the Zimbabweans recorded their first surprise victory in a Test
against Pakistan (February 1995) and voices were raised against match-
fixing and a case of a repetition of bribery no notice was taken by the
Pakistani board. As recent as this month the bookies were active in Sharjah
and there were doubts that results in the round-robin stage of the
triangular, if not in the final, were fabricated.
If the Pakistan Cricket Board is not going to launch a full-scale inquest
under neutral personages viz retired members of the higher judiciary, will
the Government of Pakistan step in to start an inquiry of their own into
this malaise and try to scotch this element from the body of Pakistan
cricket.
The severe action against Aamir Sohail, right or wrong, should goad the
Government into action and it should do what the board has failed to do to
save Pakistans cricket from further infamy.
It is not known if Sohail will make an appeal to the Chief Executive of the
PCB. Though the disciplinary committee considers itself to be autonomous
the Test cricketer may yet move a prayer to the higher tiers of the board,
the Executive Council and the General Body, which may go into the matter in
an objective way.
Former Test captains, cricketers and others have been saddened by the ban
on Aamir Sohail. Hanif Mohammad, known throughout the world for his cricket
exploits, considers the action as too severe. A fine may have been
sufficient.
Intikhab Alam, former captain and manager, said Sohail was a little bit
hot-tempered but that was a challenge for the management to handle. On the
whole Intikhab found him to be a team-man, a fighter to the core, a quality
player, the career of whom scintillates as an opening batsman and a shrewd
spinner.
Some have pointed to the misdemeanours of Brian Lara, Dennis Lillee and Ian
Botham. Lara still is playing the role of an Eminent Grise for the West
Indies while Botham and Lillee gave their full value to the English and
Australian teams.
One expects the PCB panel to have a second look at its action and give a
chance to Aamir Sohail, a daring and valiant batsman, to serve the national
squad as well as he had continued to do.
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970425
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Govt trying to resolve Aamir Sohail issue
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Farhana Ayaz
ISLAMABAD, April 24: Efforts are underway at the governmentlevel to
amicably resolve the dispute involving Pakistans star opener Aamir Suhail
and the Pakistan Cricket Board, a senior government official informed Dawn
on Thursday.
The PCB chairman is scheduled to meet the Minister for Sports Mushahid
Hussain on May 4.
A severe two-year ban was slapped on the stylish cricketer by the
disciplinary committee of the PCB, headed by Talat Ali, for implicating
fellow team-mates in bribery and match-fixing.
The batsman had met Mushahid Hussain before appearing in front of the
disciplinary committee. The opener had also given the Minister a file which
carried all the details about the issue which he wanted to convey to the
government, it was learnt.
Talking to this correspondent on Thursday evening the Minister for Sports
confirmed that such a file was given to him by Aamir Suhail. We are trying
to amicably resolve the issue, the Minister said.
When asked that the PCB constitution may not allow the interference of the
government at any level, the Minister stated that no one was interfering
with the constitution of the board.
It has become a national issue where the integrity of the country was
being questioned; it is being debated by every well- wisher of cricket,
Mushahid Hussain said.
It may be added here that a separate report on the issue has been prepared
by the Ministry of Sports which carries different aspects of the
controversy. It also gives the background of the 1994 disclosures by other
players.
However, the Ministry in its report has also sided with the disciplinary
committees action that since being the competent authority the batsman
should have taken it into confidence. It is further added that the batsman
may not have addressed the proper forum for remedy before blowing up the
news to the Press. The report also mentions that after 1994, the batsman
continued to be part of the same team and only came out with his story
after a controversy with the PCB.
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970424
-------------------------------------------------------------------
De Silva hits up fine century as first Test is drawn
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Samiul Hasan
COLOMBO (Sri Lanka), April 23: Aravinda de Silva knocked up a magnificent
168 as the first Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka ended in a tame draw
at the Premadasa Stadium here on Wednesday.
Despite being forced to keep chasing the ball throughout the day, Pakistan
were not disappointed in the end when their off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq
captured four wickets for 137 runs after his five wickets for 89 runs in
the first. Saqlain finished with the outstanding analysis of 107.4-20-226-9
in the match.
Saqlain was well rewarded for his laborious effort when he was adjudged
Man-of-the-Match.
Helped by two more half centuries on the final day from Hashan Tillekeratne
(54) and Sanath Jayasuriya (62), the world champions were 423 for eight
when both the captains decided to call off the proceedings with the
departure of Chaminda Vaas who gave Mushtaq Ahmad his third wicket of the
innings and sixth of the match.
Pakistan had earlier taken a slender 48-run first innings lead by scoring
378 in reply to the hosts 330. At close, Sri Lanka were 375 runs in front.
Aravinda de Silva, who resumed this morning at 79, took another 42 balls to
get the required 21 runs to complete his ninth century in Test and fifth
against Pakistan.
The century also helped him break his century drought. His last century was
against Pakistan at Faisalabad in the 1995-96 series.
Aravinda de Silva, 31 and playing his 59th Test, eclipsed two personal
landmarks also. His 168 was his best score at home. He broke his previous
best of 148 against India on the 1993-94 rubber. Aravindas 168 was also
his best score against Pakistan with the previous being 127 here on the
1994-95 series.
De Silva was not only a model of concentration, application and
determination, he played some hard pulls and cuts to do bulk of the scoring
in those areas. Unfortunately, Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja didnt plug that
area.
De Silva, after reaching the three figures, was seen at his brilliant best
when he played sparkling shots. Mohammad Zahid was one of the sufferers
from de Silvas onslaught when he was struck for three boundaries in a row
off the third over with the second new ball.
But Aravinda de Silvas dismissal was mainly due to a casual shot. Trying
to drive Mushtaq Ahmad over extra-cover, he failed to connect the ball well
and Saqlain Mushtaq pulled off a blinder at the same area.
The former Sri Lankan skipper, in all, batted for eight hours and 28
minutes during which he received 383 balls. His innings sparkled with 14
boundaries and a six.
Aravinda de Silva reached his century from 235 balls with seven fours and a
six while his 150 came off 333 balls and included 13 boundaries and a six.
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970426
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Jansher Khan plans to promote squash in Pakistan
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Farhana Ayaz
ISLAMABAD, April 25: Jansher Khan, the ace squash star, would be provided
all assistance by the government for the plans to promote the game in the
country. This assurance was given to the squash stalwart by the Minister
for Sports, Mushahid Hussain, who hosted a reception here at a local hotel
in the honour of the worldbeater on claiming the British Open title for the
sixth consecutive time.
The Minister hoped that the ace player would continue to excel and multiply
his achievements. He is a living asset for Pakistan, Mushahid said.
However Mr Mushahid declined to announce any awards. A shield was presented
to Jansher by the Minister at a simple ceremony.
The Minister also assured the star that the government would provide the
agreed amount of Rs 4.0 million for the organisation of the Pakistan Open
at Islamabad from Aug 3-8, as part of its share. The rest of the amount Rs
4.5 million, is to be generated by the Pakistan Squash Federation.
I requested the ministers and the Secretary Sports that the required money
should be provided for the Pakistan Open which is being organised in
connection with the Pakistan Golden Jubilee celebrations, and they have
assured me that the funds will be given, Jansher said.
The eight-time world champion stated that very soon he would be submitting
a detailed programme for the promotion of squash to the Minister. It would
have plans for the talented youngsters by holding workshops and clinics to
polish their skill etc.
Giving account of the training camp exclusively held for the top youngsters
at Peshawar, Jansher said it was already paying dividends in the form of
Amjad Khan who will be jumping from 150 in the world to 50 in the next
ranking. He created a number of upsets at Karachi beating Mir Zaman and
Zarak Jehan, which was the result of just three months training.
However, the champion stated that youngsters have an uphill task ahead of
them and only continuous and untiring hard work can provide the desired
results. The training camps exclusively for youngsters were set up at
Peshawar and Karachi to reduce the existing gap between Jansher and other
Pakistanis.
Amjad, who also a nephew of Jansher, will be able to qualify in the ranking
tournaments by virtue of top 50 ranking in the world. This was only his
second US$10,000 tournament, but he has proven his worth; now he requires
to gain international experience and confidence, Jansher said.
About his own plans the 29-year-old stalwart said that he aspires to win
the World Open title for another four years. I feel okay, confident and
fit, he said.
The opposition, he said, was pretty tough and was getting tougher.
Youngsters like Jonathan Power (Canada), Peter Nicol (Scotland), Ahmed
Barada (Egypt) are equally strong physically but lack experience.
In the first week of May Jansher would be flying out to India to sign a
sponsorship contract. One of the six tournaments which Jansher will compete
also includes the Mahindra Open which created a lot of controversy last
year. Jansher pulled out of the event citing security reasons behind the
decision. He was penalised with zero point and paid pound sterling 1,000
for the pullout. This year I plan to play in India. Hopefully there will
be no security concerns, he said, after giving details of the circuit
which he starts with Al Ahram US$ 150,000 prize money.
Before the World Open which is scheduled for October this year at Kuala
Lumpur, I plan to play some six tournaments, he said.
Jansher said that after the Cairo event, he would proceed to London for the
left foot operation. Jansher also disclosed that he had requested the PSF
that the dates for the US$ 90,000 Pakistan Open should be revised to the
first week of September. Because I would be requiring some six weeks for
the healing and since my operation would be on June 20, therefore its
better that the event is shifted to September, he said. Jansher broke his
left foot eight years ago while training at a PAF ground. He was advised
operation four years ago after he won a final in America. My foot has
started to trouble me now. During the games sometimes the pain becomes
quite intense, Jansher said. Secretary Sports, Dr Akhtar Hassan, Qamar
Zaman, officials of the Ministry and Pakistan Sports Board were present at
the reception.
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Bids to scale high peaks in Golden Jubilee year
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Azmat Ansari
WHILE a team of nine Pakistanis is on its way to the Mount Everest,
preparations for a Pak-China expedition to Nanga Parbat, another
challenging high peak, are almost complete. Both these ventures are part of
the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Pakistan.
The route taken by the Pakistani climbers is the longest and the most
hazardous. It runs across the aspect of the peak that faces Tibet.
The team comprises Nazir Sabir (Leader), Sher Khan (Deputy Leader), Rajab
Shah, Mohammad Iqbal, Meharban Shah, Sarwar Khan, Ghulam Hussain, Ibrahim
Khan, Rozi Ali and Saifullah Khan (doctor).
The team is also carrying with it Pakistans flag and banners of the
sponsors that it would unfurl on the summit.
Meanwhile the expedition to the Everest having stayed for a little while in
Kathmandu and then in Lhasa is now climbing the peak. It would take 14
Chinese and three Pakistani climbers to the peak which is known in the
circle of mountaineers as, perhaps one of the most difficult peaks to scale
on account of the precipices, sharp rock pinnacles and slopes that are
almost vertical.
Mr. Zeng Shu Sheng, President Chinese Mountaineering association who was in
Karachi for a brief stopover having just returned from Islamabad where he
discussed the details of the expedition with the officials said that the
Chinese team was looking forward to the event with great enthusiasm and
expectations.
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